My friend Molly knows a thing or two about cooking. Point to a pile of green-tinged rough-hewn grains with a tilt of the head and furrow of the brow? It’s freekeh, she’ll say, and then recommend a great book about it. Need to borrow a cookbook? She probably has an extra copy of the one you want. And she’ll deliver it to your door when she’s passing through your neighborhood. Curious about the origin of that cake you’ve been making for years that seems to have come out of thin air? She’ll know.
So when she suggests you buy a six-quart pot even though you already have twenty-three pots and pans for the stove top alone (eleven pots, twelve pans; I counted), your ears perk up.
It all began when I made wheat berries last Monday. I asked for advice on how to cook the grains so that they wouldn’t split. Within minutes of my hitting publish, Molly responded:
Two words: Pressure cooker. Sure, you’ll still have to soak them for a good long while, but cooking them will take a total of 20 minutes. And, they’ll look like wheat berries when all is said and done. Twenty. Minutes. Same goes for farro and barley.
The next morning’s email, from Molly, when I mentioned a pressure cooker:
Pressure cooker is clutch…I have a Fagor one…It is, hands down, my favorite kitchen tool. What I can say is that you should get a stove top one, and not one that plugs in.
There was also a lot more chit-chat in between the pressure cooker dialogue, but I’m sparing you that.
A few days later, we met up for a Boston Globe food and wine event. During the Q&A portion of the afternoon, I asked the Globe’s food editor, Sheryl Julian, how I could cook wheat berries (and farro and barley) without splitting. The first words out of her mouth?
Pressure cooker. I have four.
Molly and the Globe food editor? A few hours later, I was in a store. I bought a pot-bellied Fagor.
And then I made soup. In a regular pot. Moments later, another comment from Molly:
This soup in a pressure cooker? Six minutes.
My response:
I bought the pressure cooker! I may be indebted to you for life.
Then, I announced on Facebook (where all important life announcements should be made):
“Molly – I’m ready to change my life…I break out the pressure cooker tomorrow!
To which, Molly’s friend Sara responded:
“Oh no. She GOT TO YOU!”
Yes, Molly got to me. It seems she also got to Sara. (Addendum 11/21/2012: It turns out Sara does not have a pressure cooker. Molly, your work is not done yet.)
Today was the big day. I opened my pressure cooker. I marveled at the fact that it’s called a cooker, sounding much more powerful than a mere pot. I read the instruction manual (which I still haven’t done for my camera). I familiarized myself with the parts.
My goal was apple sauce. Had Molly ever made it in the cooker?
Yup. It takes about three minutes once the pot begins to pressurize. Place all ingredients in the pot — your apples and spices — add enough water and pressurize. Like I said, it should take about three minutes.
A quick check of the manual:
Apples, sliced or in pieces: 2-3 minutes
I was ready. I peeled and I chopped apples. I filled the cooker. I twisted the lid and flipped the lock and turned the valve. I set the whole thing on a burner, turned up the heat, and watched. There was steam and gurgling and more steam, but the yellow indicator never popped up. The cooker never pressurized. Ten minutes. Twenty minutes. No pop. I released the steam and unlocked the top, peering into a pile of mushy apples. I starting from scratch. Re-twist and re-lock top, re-twist indicator, heat back on. Ten more minutes. No pop.
I again released and unlocked and peered. Thirty minutes in, the apples were nearly sauce. I pretended my cooker was a mere pot and finished off the apples.
During this entire time, I was emailing Molly as if she were the Butterball Thanksgiving hotline. As the story unfolded and the sauce was finished, she wrote:
If only I was there to see what was actually happening in your kitchen with the pressure cooker. Don’t give up!
Don’t worry, Molly I won’t.
Tomorrow I’m trying again. But for now, here’s how to make applesauce on your stove top in a mere pot.
Applesauce
I first tried homemade applesauce at Jess‘s and Eli’s annual Hanukkah party. I’ve provided the ingredients for classic applesauce and cranberry applesauce, using Jess’s cranberry applesauce recipe as a guide, but significantly reduced the sugar, added a little lemon juice, and added some water because I don’t like my applesauce too thick. I made both of these versions today. The classic in the cooker took half an hour over medium-high heat; the cranberry in a Dutch oven took 45 minutes over medium-low heat. I was clearly doing something wrong with the pressure cooker!
Applesauce is good cold, but great warmed up a bit.
For classic applesauce:
Makes about 3 1/2 cups
– 4 lbs apples (approximately 8 medium) – I used a mix of Fuji, Gala, Braeburn, and Granny Smith
– 2 T sugar
– 1/2 lemon for juice (2 T)
– 1 C water
For cranberry applesauce:
Makes about 4 1/2 cups
– 4 lbs apples (approximately 8 medium) – I used a mix of Fuji, Gala, Braeburn, and Granny Smith
– 2 C fresh or frozen cranberries
– 1/4 C sugar
– 1/2 lemon for juice (2 T)
– 1 C water
Chop. Peel and chop the apples into approximately 1-inch pieces.
Simmer. Add all the ingredients to a large heavy pot (I used a Dutch oven). Cover and turn the heat to medium-low. Simmer for approximately 35-45 minutes, stirring every once in a while, until the fruit is very tender and starts to break down into sauce.
Mash. With a slotted spoon or potato masher, break down the larger pieces of apple into small chunks. You can also puree or press through a sieve for a smoother sauce.
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